TWIN ASTER

Common Caber

META

Most conlangs, it seems to me, are languages in search of a writing system; Caber was a writing system in search of a language. I knew I wanted to go for a logography for several reasons: One, I wanted realism, and logograms are how writing tends to start out; two, I wanted to be able to do crazy stuff with borrowing and adapting the system to languages it was wholly unsuited for, creating a big mess of things (kind of like chu nom--Chinese characters adapted to write Vietnamese--on steroids); and three, few conlangers ever really attempt logographic systems, and I wanted to be one of them. To accomplish this, I needed a language to write them for; logograms don't exist in a vacuum, and the rebus principle has to have some sort of a basis in the linguistic landscape for the writing system.

Enter Common Caber. It's not the flashiest, frilliest, or most complex of languages, but it gets the job done--it gave me a basis both for a writing system and for various daughter languages, allowing me to flex my diachronic muscles as well.

I've mentioned elsewhere on this web page about how I enjoy fanfiction. Caber has prompted a few fan creations--keenir likes to make signs out of it, clawgrip straight-up made a font out of it (in addition to all the other wonderful advice he has given me), and opipik has created actual daughter languages.

IN-UNIVERSE

Common Caber (CC) was spoken around 2500 BC in the lowlands in the west of Matanhír. It was spoken by the Caber people, who to this day maintain a strong presence in that region of the continent (as well as some diaspora, the most sizable of which is within the Tim Ar Empire.

CC provided the basis for a linguistic grouping, the Caber family, which is divisible into a number of branches--North, East (itself split into two subfamilies of import, Northeast and Southeast), South, West, Central, and Mute.

Phonology

Consonants

CC had the following consonant phonemes:

LABIAL ALVEOLAR PALATAL VELAR
NASAL m n
STOP p b t d k c g
FRICATIVE f s z ɕ ś ʑ ź x h
AFFRICATE tɕ ć dʑ ǵ
RESONANT w ɾ r

Vowels

The following vowels existed in CC:

FRONT CENTRAL BACK
HIGH i ɨ ŭ u
MID ɛ e ə ŏ ɔ o
LOW a

Syllable structure

The maximal syllable in CC is CVC. Neither the onset nor the coda is obligatory; however, all syllables must feature one, and only one, vowel. There were no diphthongs (unless sequences involving w are counted)--each vowel stood as the nucleus of its own syllable.

Allophony

Of note is that the velars /k g x/ became palatals [tɕ dʑ ɕ] when standing before a front vowel. The distinction between these phonemes is neutralized in that position; before front vowels, these are written c g ś, regardless of whether the underlying consonant is palatal or velar.

Numbers

CC, like many languages on Íröd, counts in base six.

 bŭcŏ  'one' 
 bŏci  'two' 
 geśac  'three' 
 raćboć  'four' 
 ŏ  'five' 
 śeŭ  'six' 

The Caber had a concept of zero (mŭgŭi) from at least the time of CC.

As modifiers

Numbers are treated as nouns, not adjectives, in CC. To express a specific number of some noun, one simply uses the genitive preposition fe.

raćboć fe ćŭ
 raćboć  fe  ćŭ 
 four  GEN  tree 
'four trees'

ba raćboć fe ćŭ
 ba  raćboć  fe  ćŭ 
 DEF  four  GEN  tree 
'the four trees'

raćboć fe ba ćŭ
 raćboć  fe  ba  ćŭ 
 four  GEN  DEF  tree 
'four of the trees'

ba raćboć fe ba ćŭ
 ba  raćboć  fe  ba  ćŭ 
 DEF  four  GEN  DEF  tree 
'the four trees in question, these four trees (specifically)'

Note how the placement of the article(s) changes the meaning.

Grammar

Word Order

CC was rigidly SVO (subject-verb-object) in nature. It was also strongly head-initial, with adjectives and adverbs typically preceding the referent they modify.

ŏngŏ dŏr
 ŏngŏ  dŏr 
 long  tail 
'a long tail'

mihgŏ rai baćam
 mihgŏ  rai  baćam 
 green  another  world 
'another green world'

One quirk: Adverbial subordinators typically follow the clause they modify.

cŏpa dihgor ba adis
 cŏpa  dihgor  ba  adis 
 3SG.M  give.orders.to  DEF  after 
'after he gives orders, once he gives the order'

o wec ba hŭ ŏ, o maz bŏci fe rŭŏrcis nuas
 o  wec  ba  hŭ  ŏ  o  maz  bŏci  fe  rŭŏrcis  nuas 
 2SG  cut  DEF  branch  if  2SG  gain  two  GEN  piece.of.wood  then 
'if you cut the branch, you gain two pieces of wood'

The default adposition in CC is the preposition:

ru bŭfec rŭi ćosod
 ru  bŭfec  rŭi  ćoso  -d 
 give  lacking  enumeration  thing  PL 
'to give things without number'

Existentials

CC has four existential particles. These are tac 'there is', iec 'there is no(t)', ŏn 'there was', and ŭnec 'there was no(t)'.

These come at the beginning of the sentence--e.g. tac ŭtam ba rŭ boz 'there is soil in the field', ŭnec ŭtam ba rŭ boz 'there was no soil in the field'.

Questions

Simple polar questions are formed using the particle ćŭa placed at the end of the question: O wec ba hŭ ćŭa? 'Are you cutting the branch?'

Questions formed using WH-words will pull from the below:

e 'who? what? (subject)'
ri 'who? what? (object)'
ćam 'do what? (general question verb)'
eś 'where?'
ćuŭ 'when?'
aǵe 'why?'
ŏs 'how?'
cŏwŏ 'how far?'
ei 'how much? how many?'
ǵo 'how much? to what extent?'

The appropriate question word is slotted into the sentence in the spot where the answer would go in a declarative statement:

e dihgor ba ćŭa?
 e  dihgor  ba  ćưa 
 who.SBJ  command  2SG  Q 
'who commands you?'

cŏpa bo ri ćŭa?
 cŏpa  bo  ri  ćŭa
 3SG.M  hold  what.OBJ  Q 
'what is he holding?'

o ŏs oś ćŭa?
 o  ŏs  oś  ćŭa
 2SG  how  do.work  Q 
'how do you work? what does one do here?'

tac ei bosa ćŭa?
 tac  ei  bosa  ćŭa 
 there.is  how.much  water  Q 
'how much water (is there)?'

Nouns

Nouns have several strategies for pluralizing:

  • In nouns ending two consecutive open syllables (i.e., ending in a -VV or -VCV sequence), the plural injects a w immediately before the second vowel and appends a -c: caro 'table' > carwoc 'tables'; seisu 'language' > seiswuc 'languages'.

  • After a velar consonant, the plural is -a: ćeg 'jar, vase' > ćeg-a 'jars, vases'.

  • If none of the above apply, the general plural is -oc--baćam 'world' > baćamoc; śŏm 'valley' > śŏmoc. This -o- is deleted after a vowel: śehcŏ 'stream, brook' > śehcŏc; unaśi 'harvest' > unaśic.

  • A few common nouns take a plural in -d: ćoso 'thing' > ćosod; oŏ 'air' > oŏd 'skies, the sky'; besrŏ 'mountain' > besrŏd; bio 'family' > biod; bosa 'water' > bosad 'lake, inland sea', bousta 'country' > boustad; tu 'child' > tud; sobo 'bag, pouch' > sobod 'bags, pouches; shelf'; sihca 'corner' > sihcad.

  • There are also a handful of suppletive plurals.

Derivational operations

The delocative

The delocative suffix -(V)nme turns a location noun into an activity characteristic of location: camno 'pasture' > camnonme 'to graze (animals), to pasture'; nuc 'volcano' > nucunme 'to erupt'; aćam 'forehead' > aćamanme 'blink'; ǵŭ 'shop, bazaar' > ǵŭnme 'haggle, bargain'.

Verbs

Causatives

Ablaut of the final root vowel can be used to indicate a causative:

u ~ uo
o ~ oa
ŭ ~ u
ŏ ~ o
a ~ o
e ~ ie
i ~ ai

Exchange

CC possessed a suffix, -tŭtam, which promotes the patient to the subject of an active verb and then takes an instrumental adjunct and promotes it to the direct object: comos 'teach (s.o.)' > comostŭtam 'learn (s.th.)', opŭn 'discuss, talk about' > opŭntŭtam 'be discussed, concern someone'. This operation is called "exchange".

ŏr tignes ba iniscip opŭn
 ŏr  tignes  ba  iniscip  opŭn 
 3PL.M  about  DEF  punishment  discuss
'they discuss the punishment, they talk about the punishment'

ba iniscip opŭntŭtam
 ba  iniscip  opŭn  -tŭtam 
 DEF  punishment  discuss  EXC 
'the punishment is being discussed, the punishment is on the table'

Derivational operations

CC possessed several affixes, including deverbal affixes, that could produce derivatives of the verb to which they were applied.

Illimitable pattern of action

The suffix -ćV produced a noun signifying the illimitable pattern of action for the verb: ǵatfum 'to walk' > ǵatfumću 'route, way, directions, walk, instructions'; ŭmŭ 'to paint, to write' > ŭmŭćŭ 'subject, topic, mise en scène'; mafa 'to cook (food)' > mafaća 'recipe'; ǵan 'to sing' > ǵanća 'lyrics, melody, tune, arrangement, song'.

Emission/radiation

That which is emitted, radiated, or given off as a result of the action is denoted using the suffix -i: ma 'to glow' > mai 'glow'; ŭstac 'to sweat' > ŭstaci 'sweat'; tŭ 'to extrude sap, to give off sap'; tŭi 'tree sap'; ŏnŏ 'to cry, to weep' > ŏnŏi 'tear(s)'.

Locative of action

The locative of action expresses the characteristic location of the action of the verb: ǵatfum 'to walk' > ǵatfumre 'path, park, route'; ćo 'to teach' > ćore 'school, academy'; ota 'to take' > otare 'backpack, knapsack' > ma 'glow' > mare 'gegenschein'.

The initial -r- was deleted following another r: bor 'to wither' > bore 'diseased field, contaminated field; condemned structure'; har 'to nurture, to raise' > hare 'home'.

Resultative

The end result of an action is indicated using the suffix -s(V): oǵ 'to know' > oǵso 'knowledge, experience'; ćŭr 'to show s.th. to s.o.' > ćŭrsŭ 'introduction, discovery, exposure'; repću 'to speak' > repćus 'speech, quote'; zoce 'to throw off sparks' > zoces 'spark'.

This -s- is deleted following another sibilant fricative or affricate: otgoć 'to hit, to fight against/with' > otgoćo 'bad blood, blood feud'; goć 'to learn' > goćo 'education, knowledge'; boŭs 'to take a bow' > boŭsŭ 'respect, deference'; bŭśŭś 'to be absent, to miss' > bŭśŭśŭ 'absence'.

Characteristic nominalizer

The characteristic nominalizer has connotations that all involve regularly doing something or having some sort of characteristic related to the verb in question. This affix is s- before a vowel and so- otherwise: cŏpaw 'explode' > socŏpaw 'guns of the Seneca, mistpouffer'; oś 'to do work' > soś 'laborer'.

Adjectives

Adjectives take the same plural endings as nouns do:

ba baǵŭga oestoc embŭga
 ba  baǵŭg  -a  oesto  -oc  embŭg  -a 
 DEF  gray  PL  large  PL  larva  PL 
'the big gray larvae'

Perhaps unusually, when following mass nouns, adjectives take a plural ending though the noun itself does not:

wagiteca oton
 wagitec  -a  oton 
 yellow  PL  ink 
'yellow ink'

irsac oŏ
 irsa  -oc  oŏ 
 sharp  PL  air 
'air after a thunderstorm'

Derivational operations

Adjectives can be turned into causative verbs by the addition of a prefix fŏ-: irsa 'sharp' > fŏirsa 'to sharpen'; nor 'dull' > fŏnor 'dull (s.th.), wear (s.th.) out'.

Degree

An adverbial particle te indicates the comparative, as in te irsa 'sharper' < irsa 'sharp'. Simple apposition can create comparative statements:

ba ticar te tocit ba uastoc
 ba  ticar  te  tocit  ba  uastoc 
 DEF  food  more  beneficial  DEF  meal 
'the food was better than the meal (was)'

The superlative is an adverbial anta: anta irsa 'strongest'.